Category: Decor Styles

At Home Group Inc. (NYSE: HOME), one of the fastest-growing retailers in the nation, opened its newest location at 300 Tanger Outlets Blvd. in Pooler, Ga., on Oct. 24, with a community New Store Open House on Nov. 10. The new Pooler At Home location is the 10th in the state and 173rd store nationwide.

The 92,000-square-foot home décor superstore offers more than 50,000 home decor items, from furniture, mirrors, rugs, art and housewares to tabletop, patio and seasonal décor across a variety of styles and at everyday low prices. At Home is the holiday headquarters, with one of the biggest holiday assortments for inside and outside the home at the best prices. With 12 new Christmas collections including hundreds of items, more than 100 styles of artificial trees and nutcrackers and over 1,000 ornaments, At Home makes it easy to Christmas all the way for the most stylish time of the year.

“As we strategically grow our national footprint, we are excited to open our first store in the Savannah market,” said At Home Chairman and CEO Lee Bird. “Our vast selection of on-trend styles is winning over home décor customers who want it all: value, variety and an inspiring, hands-on shopping experience.”

Shoppers will find style ideas throughout the store, which is based on a warehouse model with continually updated items that showcase the latest trends and seasonal products. An average of 400 new products arrive each week to provide fresh inspiration.

“At Home strives to have the widest selection of home décor items, and we are dedicated to inspiring you to refresh, play and experiment with home décor that reflects your unique personality and style,” said Pooler At Home Store Director Sandy Waedekin. “We welcome everyone to come in, explore our newest store and find endless decorating possibilities for every room in your home for your budget.”

A New Store Open House will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10, beginning at 9 a.m. The open house will include Gift Card Giveaways for the first 50 people who visit the store and sign up for At Home Insider Perks.

From shabby chic to beige-on-beige there are some decor choices that should be avoided at all costs. Here, interiors experts share their worst offenders.

CRINGEWORTHY COLOURS

Colours come and colours go but there are some that interior gurus will not tolerate. Daniella Norling from Trove Interior Design names burgundy as a key offender. “It reeks of cheap velour, nasty, shiny polyester and key parties,” she says. “Somebody needs to knock that shade off the colourwheel stat.”

Norling also doesn’t like a lack of colour, or the beige-on-beige look. “It’s like living in a bowl of porridge,” she says. “When I see a home decorated in nothing but neutral tones, I see a person with undisclosed trauma. Seek psychological assistance and unleash your inner rainbow.”

Hayley Dryland from August Design is specific: no plain, brightly coloured glass splashbacks on her watch thanks, especially in red or green. “This is not the only way to add colour or interest to a kitchen,” she says. “If you do, make sure it ties into a couple of other elements (chairs, artwork, coffee machine) and try marble-look porcelain, mosaics, or printed pattern on glass.”

And Leigh Aston from interiors blog Townhouse Living isn’t a fan of nineties-style blue kitchen cabinets. “Hopefully we’ve learned that neutral colours are a wise choice when it comes to something you might be stuck with for the next 20 years,” she says.

ISTOCK

The owners of this beige, scandi-style home should never invite Daniella Norling over for tea.

TIRED STYLES

Norling names the ever-popular clean and minimalist ‘scandi’ as her most-despised style. “Kiwis really drank the Kool-Aid on this one and gave it the biggest thrashing since avocado bathrooms in the seventies,” she says. “My family come from Sweden and my embarrassment over this trend has left me with an identity crisis.”

Becky Lee from Becky Lee Interiors names ‘shabby chic’ as her look to avoid. “There really is only so much distressed furniture one room can take” she says. “I would encourage shabby chic lovers to study French provincial style – it has similar feel but is a bit more sophisticated and will stand the test of time.”

ISTOCK

Once a suburban staple, now a criminal offence.

WINDOWS OF SHAME

When it comes to window dressings, the experts have plenty of targets.

For Lee, it’s vertical blinds. “Were they ever trendy?” she asks. “Perhaps when they were first invented in the sixties, but I personally have never understood the attraction when there are so many other good looking choices for covering your windows.”

Dryland wants to see the end of pencil pleat curtains. “They are bunched and very DIY- looking. There’s so many other option like inverted, single or French (two or three pinch), and the ‘wave’.” But for Aston, it’s lacy nets, which once hung in every suburban window. “These days there are so many alternatives to the frumpy dust-catchers from your nana’s house.”

ISTOCK

Don’t tell our experts or anyone else to dream, eat or love – they might tell you to do something far less polite.

THE WRONG WORDS

Norling calls the phenomenon of hanging words on the wall “the pencil-thin eyebrow trend of the interior design world.” “It simply never should have happened,” she says. “I don’t need to be told when to EAT, DREAM or LOVE. I have a mind of my own, thanks very much. It is like putting PEE above your toilet – completely unnecessary.”

Aston would extend this to any inspirational quotes whatsoever. “Has anyone ever “danced like nobody’s watching” because a print on the wall told them to?”

WOOD TO WATCH

Wood can be good our designers say, but it can also be very bad. Norling points the finger at badly designed rimu furniture. “The fact that rimu is a native timber doesn’t make it a thing of beauty,” she says. “As far as I am concerned, the only good rimu coffee table is one buried in the back garden.” And according to Aston if wood panelling in your home, it’s got to be the real thing. Wood-look veneer is a no-no.

In recent years, a slew of online interior design startups have emerged. These services run the gamut from inexpensive virtual room curations to more complete home renovation consultations costing upwards of thousands of dollars. It’s easy to understand the appeal. Using the digital services of an experienced design professional is less expensive and more convenient than more traditional ways. It has also opened up the market to people who would otherwise just decorate themselves. However, there has been a gap for consumers looking to do a quick refresh or want a designers eye for smaller scale projects. Now, the recently launched Spruce Up is looking to take on this niche in an entirely new way.

Ending The Endless Scroll

Furnishing a room or even accessorizing one is rarely a simple process. Take a living room for example. At the very minimum, there are three to four items that need to fit and coordinate into a space. Finding good help at any brick and mortar store is challenging. Online shopping can be equally frustrating in a different way entirely. It’s easy to spend a seemingly endless amount of time looking at what’s available and the end result is often decision fatigue.

This is exactly what happened to CEO and Founder of Spruce Up Mia Lewin. She sees Spruce Up as the perfect solution for millennials who like to shop online, but don’t want to spend unnecessary time doing it. “What we need is help sorting through all our favorite brands and styles to choose the right pieces and make them our own. Spruce Up provides the perfect pairing of a high-touch, specialty boutique service and selection, within a modern digital shopping experience, personalized to each customer and their home,” she explained.

How It Works

An easy quiz yields complex results.SPRUCE UP

The process of using Spruce Up is equally efficient and thorough. It starts with a style quiz where shoppers click through various pieces of furniture, decor and color swatches with an easy thumbs up or down. Results are grouped into percentages of categories such as 53% Contemporary Glamourist and 36% Vintage Industrialist.

Then customers are matched with an expert stylist. Spruce Up has pretty high standards for their designers, all of whom already have established businesses with five to over twenty years of experience. After filling out a form to share the specifics of the project, stylists are accessible via chat. Text, photos, and links can all be sent within the interface.

The next step is what sets Spruce Up apart from their competition. It is the first of its kind to combine artificial intelligence with stylist curation. The designer uses AI behind the scenes to choose from the 20k+ products available. They streamline everything down to a personalized mini-boutique of up to twelve items. It is presented as an aesthetically pleasing mood board which includes their notes as well as full details from the retailer. Users can check out from there or if they are unsure, request to swap out up to four items.

Spruce Up has over fifty retail partners that range from well-known favorites including West Elm, Blu Dot, AllModern, Article and Interior Define to Loloi Rugs, as well as Lulu and Georgia. They also have more obscure brands such as FinnPeaks, Magisso and Ara Collective. Spruce Up says this all adds up to one trillion potential product variations for the algorithm to comb through.

The Price Is Right

A Boho chic mood board.SPRUCE UP

But perhaps the best part of Spruce Up that it’s essentially free. Before being matched, shoppers pay a one-time $25 styling fee, which is credited toward any item purchased within fourteen days. This makes the service incredibly appealing to those who want to use a designer but think it’s out of their reach. Spruce Up will also bring in customers who would have never considered using a designer because of the cost.

It is also likely to attract shoppers who want something very specific and realize the value of having a professional do the legwork without the cost. For example, curating a gallery wall or finding a designer dupe. Spruce Up is also useful for people who need something coordinate with a piece they already own—like a coffee table to compliment an oversized 1970’s mid-century modern vintage sofa in a studio apartment.

While Spruce Up appears to have come out of nowhere—the company’s founders and leadership have experience working with major retailers including Amazon, eBay, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, and Anthropologie. The Advisory Board members include Julie Bornstein, who was previously the COO of StitchFix, and Hilary Billings, who is a prior Board Member of Design Within Reach. In February 2018, the Seattle-based company secured $1.5M in pre-seed funding from a variety of investors including Two Sigma Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, Female Founders Fund, Maveron, and Peterson Ventures.

The most beautiful Christmas table settings are those that reflect your personal style, whether that’s classic and traditional, or ’70s-inspired boho. Let your holiday table setting nod to the latest trends of the moment (hello, shibori napkins), but choose a theme that matches your own home decor style, too. To help us find inspiration and make shopping for all of the details easier, we met up with Etsy’s trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson for her top three Christmas table settings for 2018. Go with the neon look for a merry and bright vibe, or opt for the laid-back style of the bohemian table setting. Then, consult the shopping guide below to find out where to buy every gorgeous item featured in the video.

1

Rustic Yet Refined: The Modern Farmhouse Table Setting

BlancPottery.etsy.com

Joanna Gaines may have made the modern farmhouse trend take off, but the fad isn’t stopping anytime soon. This versatile table setting can work with several home decor styles, including farmhouse and Scandi-inspired minimalism. The first key is to incorporate natural elements, Isom Johnson explains. Consider bringing in pinecones, greenery, or even natural wood slice chargers. Keep the color palette neutral so that the natural elements can really shine, then mix in a few metallic pieces, like gold flatware.

To make your table merry and bright, but without going overboard, Isom Johnson suggests mixing just a few neon touches into your Christmas table setting. Bright bottle brush trees or napkins with some DayGlo details are all you need to get the look.

The ’70s are making a resurgence, and that means that bohemian style is back. Let your Christmas table setting reflect this laid-back style by incorporating whimsical agate place cards, a dried floral centerpiece that would make any flower child proud, and shibori napkins for an updated take on tie-dye. To finish the look, mix in rattan chargers, coasters, or napkin rings.

If the retail displays haven’t put you in the holiday mood, the St. Thomas Rotary Christmas tour of homes offers to do so. The 23rd annual tour opens the doors to four homes decorated by local florists and designers Nov. 9-11. It’s a feel-good weekend of trees, tinsel and music to support many of the Rotary Club’s projects.

Start with the candlelight Friday night preview, or gather a group of friends and wend your way around Elgin County during the day. Here are 10 highlights to get the most from your tour.

Variety of house styles as seasonal settings: The homes this year include a century cottage expanded into a luxurious all-year home; a ranch filled with antiques; a spacious custom-built house; and a new model home featuring many upgrades. The selection committee looks for diversity to showcase possibilities and inspire. They also included the CASO (Canada Southern) railway station where participants can relax over a cup of hot cider and see four trees done up in different styles by local designers.

Variety of decorating styles: There’s a place for every taste, from coastal teal and aquamarine, to shore and waves in blues, sandy brown and cream. The model home is a blank canvas for Berry Hill Ltd. Visitors also will want to check out the energy efficiencies of the net-zero complete home: solar panels, monitoring system and on-demand water heater. The fourth house shows how to incorporate antiques into a 21st-century house.

A first-time old-time approach: This year, one of the homeowners also is the decorator for her home. “It is totally furnished with antiques the owners bought anywhere you can buy and refinish yourself,” said tour organizer Patricia Martyn. The family room fireplace dates to the 1800s and was rescued and refurbished by the owners. Wall treatments give the illusion of vintage wallcoverings, and lights throughout the house are antique fixtures.

Use of non-traditional colours: Two houses feature cool hues, not the usual red and green. Heritage Garden Gallery will show how to be creative with a teal, coastal vibe and how to work with unique aspects of a custom house.

Themes for different rooms: One house has seven bedrooms that reflect the Mediterranean taste of previous owners and the Victorian pieces the current owner brought from their farmhouse. The colours vary too, from orange and yellow to pink. Some houses will include children’s rooms. Often, designers decorate a tree in each room to show matching themes.

Simplify the decor: Casa del Lago in Port Stanley began as a one-storey cottage in 1910, morphed into a Mediterranean villa, took on some Victorian touches, and now serves as home, studio and entertaining centre for June and Ross Ayrhart. They removed walls, opening the interior up to the panoramic view of Lake Erie. They also unified the main level by removing brick, painting the walls a soothing blue (Just Charming by Beauty Tone) and adding art and accents of sailing and ports from their travels around the world.

Bring the outside indoors: Rose Caris, creative designer for McLennan Flowers and Gifts, wanted to make the most of the lakeside setting. “The blue is unique,” said Caris. “Blue and grey are so in as colours now.” She moved the tree to the side of the window, and chose ornaments that echo sand and water and the furnishings: soft blue balls, white berries and crystal sprays, and burlap poinsettias with clusters of silver bells in the centre. She chose the burlap for its similarity to sand in texture and colour. On the mantel, a bare twig sculpture provides hanging space for clear glass balls. The mini-lights make the balls sparkle like sun on the water outside. Pine cones, crystals sprays and clusters of blue balls repeat the theme.

Open concept means co-ordinated decor: “When you have an open concept, the colours all have to blend in,” said Caris. From the dining table, to the kitchen island to the tree in the sitting room, she shows how to use the colours to unify without merely doing the same thing in each area. For example, the chandelier above the table will be adorned with crystal sprays picking up one of the elements from the mantel display.

Do-it-yourself ideas: How to trim a tree, how to co-ordinate an open area or give new life to an old sideboard – the tour is chock full of fun ideas to take home and try. “People are going to see things they can do themselves,” said Caris. One example is using their existing colour scheme. “If you have a blue room, a red tree will not do,” said Caris.

Do some gift shopping with a bid on silent auction items: Support from the tour funds projects in the community and around the world, such as the clean water project in Cameroon, the Rotary Music Festival in St. Thomas, and the YMCA’s Strong Kids program.

In recent years, a slew of online interior design startups have emerged. These services run the gamut from inexpensive virtual room curations to more complete home renovation consultations costing upwards of thousands of dollars. It’s easy to understand the appeal. Using the digital services of an experienced design professional is less expensive and more convenient than more traditional ways. It has also opened up the market to people who would otherwise just decorate themselves. However, there has been a gap for consumers looking to do a quick refresh or want a designers eye for smaller scale projects. Now, the recently launched Spruce Up is looking to take on this niche in an entirely new way.

Ending The Endless Scroll

Furnishing a room or even accessorizing one is rarely a simple process. Take a living room for example. At the very minimum, there are three to four items that need to fit and coordinate into a space. Finding good help at any brick and mortar store is challenging. Online shopping can be equally frustrating in a different way entirely. It’s easy to spend a seemingly endless amount of time looking at what’s available and the end result is often decision fatigue.

This is exactly what happened to CEO and Founder of Spruce Up Mia Lewin. She sees Spruce Up as the perfect solution for millennials who like to shop online, but don’t want to spend unnecessary time doing it. “What we need is help sorting through all our favorite brands and styles to choose the right pieces and make them our own. Spruce Up provides the perfect pairing of a high-touch, specialty boutique service and selection, within a modern digital shopping experience, personalized to each customer and their home,” she explained.

How It Works

An easy quiz yields complex results.Spruce Up

The process of using Spruce Up is equally efficient and thorough. It starts with a style quiz where shoppers click through various pieces of furniture, decor and color swatches with an easy thumbs up or down. Results are grouped into percentages of categories such as 53% Contemporary Glamourist and 36% Vintage Industrialist.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Then customers are matched with an expert stylist. Spruce Up has pretty high standards for their designers, all of whom already have established businesses with five to over twenty years of experience. After filling out a form to share the specifics of the project, stylists are accessible via chat. Text, photos, and links can all be sent within the interface.

The next step is what sets Spruce Up apart from their competition. It is the first of its kind to combine artificial intelligence with stylist curation. The designer uses AI behind the scenes to choose from the 20k+ products available. They streamline everything down to a personalized mini-boutique of up to twelve items. It is presented as an aesthetically pleasing mood board which includes their notes as well as full details from the retailer. Users can check out from there or if they are unsure, request to swap out up to four items.

Spruce Up has over fifty retail partners that range from well-known favorites including West Elm, Blu Dot, AllModern, Article and Interior Define to Loloi Rugs, as well as Lulu and Georgia. They also have more obscure brands such as FinnPeaks, Magisso and Ara Collective. Spruce Up says this all adds up to one trillion potential product variations for the algorithm to comb through.

The Price Is Right

A Boho chic mood board.Spruce Up

But perhaps the best part of Spruce Up that it’s essentially free. Before being matched, shoppers pay a one-time $25 styling fee, which is credited toward any item purchased within fourteen days. This makes the service incredibly appealing to those who want to use a designer but think it’s out of their reach. Spruce Up will also bring in customers who would have never considered using a designer because of the cost.

It is also likely to attract shoppers who want something very specific and realize the value of having a professional do the legwork without the cost. For example, curating a gallery wall or finding a designer dupe. Spruce Up is also useful for people who need something coordinate with a piece they already own—like a coffee table to compliment an oversized 1970’s mid-century modern vintage sofa in a studio apartment.

While Spruce Up appears to have come out of nowhere—the company’s founders and leadership have experience working with major retailers including Amazon, eBay, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, and Anthropologie. The Advisory Board members include Julie Bornstein, who was previously the COO of StitchFix, and Hilary Billings, who is a prior Board Member of Design Within Reach. In February 2018, the Seattle-based company secured $1.5M in pre-seed funding from a variety of investors including Two Sigma Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, Female Founders Fund, Maveron, and Peterson Ventures.

In recent years, a slew of online interior design startups have emerged. These services run the gamut from inexpensive virtual room curations to more complete home renovation consultations costing upwards of thousands of dollars. It’s easy to understand the appeal. Using the digital services of an experienced design professional is less expensive and more convenient than more traditional ways. It has also opened up the market to people who would otherwise just decorate themselves. However, there has been a gap for consumers looking to do a quick refresh or want a designers eye for smaller scale projects. Now, the recently launched Spruce Up is looking to take on this niche in an entirely new way.

Ending The Endless Scroll

Furnishing a room or even accessorizing one is rarely a simple process. Take a living room for example. At the very minimum, there are three to four items that need to fit and coordinate into a space. Finding good help at any brick and mortar store is challenging. Online shopping can be equally frustrating in a different way entirely. It’s easy to spend a seemingly endless amount of time looking at what’s available and the end result is often decision fatigue.

This is exactly what happened to CEO and Founder of Spruce Up Mia Lewin. She sees Spruce Up as the perfect solution for millennials who like to shop online, but don’t want to spend unnecessary time doing it. “What we need is help sorting through all our favorite brands and styles to choose the right pieces and make them our own. Spruce Up provides the perfect pairing of a high-touch, specialty boutique service and selection, within a modern digital shopping experience, personalized to each customer and their home,” she explained.

How It Works

An easy quiz yields complex results.Spruce Up

The process of using Spruce Up is equally efficient and thorough. It starts with a style quiz where shoppers click through various pieces of furniture, decor and color swatches with an easy thumbs up or down. Results are grouped into percentages of categories such as 53% Contemporary Glamourist and 36% Vintage Industrialist.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Then customers are matched with an expert stylist. Spruce Up has pretty high standards for their designers, all of whom already have established businesses with five to over twenty years of experience. After filling out a form to share the specifics of the project, stylists are accessible via chat. Text, photos, and links can all be sent within the interface.

The next step is what sets Spruce Up apart from their competition. It is the first of its kind to combine artificial intelligence with stylist curation. The designer uses AI behind the scenes to choose from the 20k+ products available. They streamline everything down to a personalized mini-boutique of up to twelve items. It is presented as an aesthetically pleasing mood board which includes their notes as well as full details from the retailer. Users can check out from there or if they are unsure, request to swap out up to four items.

Spruce Up has over fifty retail partners that range from well-known favorites including West Elm, Blu Dot, AllModern, Article and Interior Define to Loloi Rugs, as well as Lulu and Georgia. They also have more obscure brands such as FinnPeaks, Magisso and Ara Collective. Spruce Up says this all adds up to one trillion potential product variations for the algorithm to comb through.

The Price Is Right

A Boho chic mood board.Spruce Up

But perhaps the best part of Spruce Up that it’s essentially free. Before being matched, shoppers pay a one-time $25 styling fee, which is credited toward any item purchased within fourteen days. This makes the service incredibly appealing to those who want to use a designer but think it’s out of their reach. Spruce Up will also bring in customers who would have never considered using a designer because of the cost.

It is also likely to attract shoppers who want something very specific and realize the value of having a professional do the legwork without the cost. For example, curating a gallery wall or finding a designer dupe. Spruce Up is also useful for people who need something coordinate with a piece they already own—like a coffee table to compliment an oversized 1970’s mid-century modern vintage sofa in a studio apartment.

While Spruce Up appears to have come out of nowhere—the company’s founders and leadership have experience working with major retailers including Amazon, eBay, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, and Anthropologie. The Advisory Board members include Julie Bornstein, who was previously the COO of StitchFix, and Hilary Billings, who is a prior Board Member of Design Within Reach. In February 2018, the Seattle-based company secured $1.5M in pre-seed funding from a variety of investors including Two Sigma Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, Female Founders Fund, Maveron, and Peterson Ventures.

The most beautiful Christmas table settings are those that reflect your personal style, whether that’s classic and traditional, or ’70s-inspired boho. Let your holiday table setting nod to the latest trends of the moment (hello, shibori napkins), but choose a theme that matches your own home decor style, too. To help us find inspiration and make shopping for all of the details easier, we met up with Etsy’s trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson for her top three Christmas table settings for 2018. Go with the neon look for a merry and bright vibe, or opt for the laid-back style of the bohemian table setting. Then, consult the shopping guide below to find out where to buy every gorgeous item featured in the video.

Rustic Yet Refined: The Modern Farmhouse Table Setting

BlancPottery.etsy.com

Joanna Gaines may have made the modern farmhouse trend take off, but the fad isn’t stopping anytime soon. This versatile table setting can work with several home decor styles, including farmhouse and Scandi-inspired minimalism. The first key is to incorporate natural elements, Isom Johnson explains. Consider bringing in pinecones, greenery, or even natural wood slice chargers. Keep the color palette neutral so that the natural elements can really shine, then mix in a few metallic pieces, like gold flatware.

To make your table merry and bright, but without going overboard, Isom Johnson suggests mixing just a few neon touches into your Christmas table setting. Bright bottle brush trees or napkins with some DayGlo details are all you need to get the look.

The ’70s are making a resurgence, and that means that bohemian style is back. Let your Christmas table setting reflect this laid-back style by incorporating whimsical agate place cards, a dried floral centerpiece that would make any flower child proud, and shibori napkins for an updated take on tie-dye. To finish the look, mix in rattan chargers, coasters, or napkin rings.

Few feelings compare to when you realize your favorite trends of the past come back into style, updated and better than ever. That can be said for everything from interior design to fashion and beauty—trends tend to wax and wane and evolve over time, so when you can suddenly find an even better version of your favorite styles, it’s pretty exciting. From soft, cozy shearling and sunburst mirrors to all of the rattan and wicker your heart could ever desire, these are some of the top home trends making a comeback this year.

Shearling

Arhaus

BUY NOW

Lazar Chair$599, Arhaus

One of the biggest trends this year has been shearling, sherpa, and wool (both real and faux) furniture, particularly chairs. If you’ve been waiting for all things lush and fuzzy and cozy to make a comeback, it’s here—and it’s ready for all the naps you’ll inevitably be taking, because who can stay awake on a chair like this?

Shag Rugs

Lulu & Georgia

BUY NOW

Rimora Shag Rug
$305, Lulu & Georgia

You might immediately think “too 70s” when you hear the word “shag,” but shag rugs are fully back. They may not be popular in wall-to-wall carpet form like they were decades ago, but soft, shaggy area rugs with beautiful patterns like this one? They’re just about everywhere now.

Rattan and Wicker

Made Goods

CHECK PRICE

Aurora Lounge Chair
Made Goods

You’ve probably already noticed that there’s been a huge resurgence of wicker and rattan furniture and decor this year, because you can find them everywhere from high end retailers to budget stores. But, it’s not your average rattan—this time, it’s all about the details, like the cool shape of this stunner from Made Goods.

Sunbursts

Anthropologie

BUY NOW

Sunstar Mirror
$228, Anthropologie

Sunbursts are back and ready for all your mirror needs, but this time they’re a little more elegant and understated, especially in gold. And you’ll likely notice a crossover between the wicker trend and the sunburst trend—there are tons of wicker and rattan sunburst mirrors out there just waiting for you to give your home a touch of boho-glam.

Macramé

Pottery Barn

BUY NOW

Jenn Macrame Wall Art
$139, Pottery Barn

Macramé wall hangings have been big on maker spaces like Etsy for a while now because it’s never really gone away, but you’ll likely be seeing a lot more of this vintage-inspired favorite at major retailers and more high-end stores. It is a great way to add texture to a room, after all.

Oversized Sofas

West Elm

BUY NOW

Harmony Down Sectional$559 and up per piece, West Elm

Sleek, chic sofas have reigned supreme for some time, but with an emphasis on comfort and having plenty of seating for guests or the whole family, stylish oversized couches are where it’s at now. Who doesn’t want a sofa they can sink right into on movie night?

Mirrored Furniture

Restoration Hardware

BUY NOW

Strand Mirrored Desk
$1550, Restoration Hardware

Mirrored furniture is one of those trends that always seems to pop up again every few decades, and it’s definitely back now. Nightstands, desks, coffee tables—you name it, and you can find high-end and budget buys with that glam, throwback finish just about everywhere you turn.

If the retail displays haven’t put you in the holiday mood, the St. Thomas Rotary Christmas tour of homes offers to do so. The 23rd annual tour opens the doors to four homes decorated by local florists and designers Nov. 9-11. It’s a feel-good weekend of trees, tinsel and music to support many of the Rotary Club’s projects.

Start with the candlelight Friday night preview, or gather a group of friends and wend your way around Elgin County during the day. Here are 10 highlights to get the most from your tour.

Variety of house styles as seasonal settings: The homes this year include a century cottage expanded into a luxurious all-year home; a ranch filled with antiques; a spacious custom-built house; and a new model home featuring many upgrades. The selection committee looks for diversity to showcase possibilities and inspire. They also included the CASO (Canada Southern) railway station where participants can relax over a cup of hot cider and see four trees done up in different styles by local designers.

Variety of decorating styles: There’s a place for every taste, from coastal teal and aquamarine, to shore and waves in blues, sandy brown and cream. The model home is a blank canvas for Berry Hill Ltd. Visitors also will want to check out the energy efficiencies of the net-zero complete home: solar panels, monitoring system and on-demand water heater. The fourth house shows how to incorporate antiques into a 21st-century house.

A first-time old-time approach: This year, one of the homeowners also is the decorator for her home. “It is totally furnished with antiques the owners bought anywhere you can buy and refinish yourself,” said tour organizer Patricia Martyn. The family room fireplace dates to the 1800s and was rescued and refurbished by the owners. Wall treatments give the illusion of vintage wallcoverings, and lights throughout the house are antique fixtures.

Use of non-traditional colours: Two houses feature cool hues, not the usual red and green. Heritage Garden Gallery will show how to be creative with a teal, coastal vibe and how to work with unique aspects of a custom house.

Themes for different rooms: One house has seven bedrooms that reflect the Mediterranean taste of previous owners and the Victorian pieces the current owner brought from their farmhouse. The colours vary too, from orange and yellow to pink. Some houses will include children’s rooms. Often, designers decorate a tree in each room to show matching themes.

Simplify the decor: Casa del Lago in Port Stanley began as a one-storey cottage in 1910, morphed into a Mediterranean villa, took on some Victorian touches, and now serves as home, studio and entertaining centre for June and Ross Ayrhart. They removed walls, opening the interior up to the panoramic view of Lake Erie. They also unified the main level by removing brick, painting the walls a soothing blue (Just Charming by Beauty Tone) and adding art and accents of sailing and ports from their travels around the world.

Bring the outside indoors: Rose Caris, creative designer for McLennan Flowers and Gifts, wanted to make the most of the lakeside setting. “The blue is unique,” said Caris. “Blue and grey are so in as colours now.” She moved the tree to the side of the window, and chose ornaments that echo sand and water and the furnishings: soft blue balls, white berries and crystal sprays, and burlap poinsettias with clusters of silver bells in the centre. She chose the burlap for its similarity to sand in texture and colour. On the mantel, a bare twig sculpture provides hanging space for clear glass balls. The mini-lights make the balls sparkle like sun on the water outside. Pine cones, crystals sprays and clusters of blue balls repeat the theme.

Open concept means co-ordinated decor: “When you have an open concept, the colours all have to blend in,” said Caris. From the dining table, to the kitchen island to the tree in the sitting room, she shows how to use the colours to unify without merely doing the same thing in each area. For example, the chandelier above the table will be adorned with crystal sprays picking up one of the elements from the mantel display.

Do-it-yourself ideas: How to trim a tree, how to co-ordinate an open area or give new life to an old sideboard – the tour is chock full of fun ideas to take home and try. “People are going to see things they can do themselves,” said Caris. One example is using their existing colour scheme. “If you have a blue room, a red tree will not do,” said Caris.

Do some gift shopping with a bid on silent auction items: Support from the tour funds projects in the community and around the world, such as the clean water project in Cameroon, the Rotary Music Festival in St. Thomas, and the YMCA’s Strong Kids program.